Impact of International Organization for Standardization (ISO 9001:2008) on service delivery in Kenya Pipeline Company, Nakuru branch

Abstract

Service delivery is an important aspect to a business entity or an organization whose main objective is to work towards achieving its mandate. Traditionally, it was assumed that investing in the workers through remuneration and creation of condusive environment would improve service delivery but this is not the case. Many organizations are now adopting varied quality management practices in order to offer and improve quality of services. These include ISO 9001:2008. ISO 9001:2008 specifies daily work procedures and requirements that are used to perform various tasks in order to realize change by improving the quality of service delivery. Despite internal and external audits indicating compliance with ISO 9001:2008 requirements, hence subsequent re-certifications, studies show that quality of service delivery is still below the recommended standards in most organizations that are certified. Furthermore, the implications of adopting ISO 9001:2008 have also not been fully understood. Although there was evidence of general improvement of operations in Kenya Pipeline Company due to ISO 9001:2008 implementation, all categories of respondents mentioned their dissatisfactions that were thought to be hindering full provision of quality service delivery. This overall objective of the study aimed at examining the role of ISO 9001:2008 implementation on service delivery in Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC), Nakuru Branch. The study objectives were to; analyze transformation of determinants of quality service delivery after ISO 9001:2008 implementation in KPC Nakuru Branch, assess the impact of ISO 9001:2008 implementation on quality service delivery at KPC Nakuru Branch, and to establish the challenges encountered during the implementation of ISO 9001:2008 in Kenya Pipeline Company Limited. The study adopted the Service Quality Delivery model as propagated by Parasuraman, Valarie, Zeithaml, and Berry which identifies gaps that cause unsuccessful service delivery. The study was a single case that obtained data from the respondents. The study targeted 214 employees and clients of KPC Nakuru Branch out of which 100 respondents were selected. Data was generated by use of questionnaires and informant interviews. Secondary data was generated from studying the existing records. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data generated through questionnaires whereas data from interviews were analyzed thematically. From the study findings, the researcher generated relevant information in relation to understanding the role of International Organization for Standardization (ISO 9001:2008) as a strategy of offering quality service delivery. The study found out that new communication methods were introduced in the company to tackle customer interaction, majority of the respondents consented that there was a general improvement in service delivery, and various challenges encountered were diverse depending on the categorization of respondents (whether one was an employee, client, or management representative). The main contribution of the study is that as much as ISO 9001:2008 work procedures are carried out in a standardized way, every business entity employs diverse strategies in order to meet the standards and all experience diverse challenges depending on their mandate. In addition, the presence of ISO 9001:2008 recommended structures and employee participation in an organization are the main contributory factors towards the implementation of quality management practices.